Did you know that women make the vast majority of philanthropic decisions, close to 84%?This week Carol and David talk to Margaret May Damen, the president of The Institute for Women and Wealth.

Margaret talks about ways that professional fundraisers can specifically target women in their activities. And if you look at the word heirs and take off the “he” what you are left with is the IRS! She also shows us how to “speak female” and further engage both men and women in the fundraising decision.

Carol and David this week talk to Carrie Wells about her recent selection as a Yoplait Breast Cancer Champion, and some of the work she has done to create the site SurvirorsRetreat.com to help other cancer survivors find and attend weekend retreats to help with their healing. Carrie, who is David’s sister, was inspired by going to a retreat and now is this powerhouse cancer fundraiser. She talks about how she has found her passion and energized her family and friends.

It pays to know your audience, and come up with oddball and unusual special events that go beyond the dinner dance and golf tournament. In this episode, Carol and David talk about some of the more unusual events that she has come across.

Every donation and donor comes with some history, and sometimes it can be a sordid situation that might be difficult to accept for the organization. In this episode, David and Carol talk about establishing a “rate card” for the different donor levels, so your organization understands what is for sale and how much notoriety will it take. It is also good to understand what is and isn’t for sale.

In this episode, Carol and David talk about what happens when you ask for help from social venture funds who want to supply executives along with their donations to a non-profit. There are differences in how non-profits and profit-making companies are governed, and some times it is better to look elsewhere for your funding.

It is all in how you space your thank you notes and acknowledgments for your donors, and by using companies such as 1-800-postcards or Modern Postcard, to help show how the money you have collected is being spent. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this advertising medium, the company rented a series of billboards by major highways, and a short message on each, as shown in this archive.Download the podcast here (5:15).

Unfortunately, Hallmark cards don’t exist for many situations when we hear about friends who have received bad news about their health. Carol and David talk about ways that you can turn this into doing some good works, and how to help others.Download the podcast here (5:45).

In this episode, Carol talks about how your organization can become a content provider, and uses the example of this site that gives all sorts of information about Hepatitis B. This shows how an organization can become an online destination and a source of useful and important content, above and beyond a mere brochure of the company’s operations. Download the podcast here (5:45).

In this episode, David explains the importance of email lists and autoresponders, and how they can help organizations connect with their audiences and supply important kinds of content. Download the podcast here (5:45).

About us

If you like what you are listening to and want to subscribe via iTunes, click here. If you don’t want to download the episodes, you can listen to the latest one by calling this number: +1 (559) 553-4632.

Carol Weisman is president of Board Builders. She is an internationally known speaker, author, trainer and consultant who specializes in volunteerism, fund raising and governance. She has worked with a wide range of clients and has served on 28 boards and has been president of 7. She is author of “Raising Charitable Children” and working on another book about fundraising.

David Strom has spoken around the world at numerous conferences from Sydney to Caracas to Tokyo and back. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, has appeared on numerous TV and radio shows such as ABC World News Tonight and NPR’s Science Friday talking about technology. He has started dozens of magazines — including being editor-in-chief at Tom’s Hardware and Network Computing, and now an editor at Baseline Magazine — and contributed to many technology Web sites.